Letters of the Past
by Lady Mystere
Summary: A sudden letter reaches Flora three years after the incident with the "Lost future". Oddly enough, it has no name or address on it. Only a drawing of herself from three years ago is within.
1. Prologue

Clive stared blankly at his dull meal as he mindlessly picked at the white cauliflower on his plate. He would've eaten but...his mind was elsewhere.

"Not eating again, huh?" A spritely voice rang out from their cell.

Clive didn't look up but answered with a head shake.

"Still thinking about them?"

The man sat on the edge of the bed opposite Clive. His face was matured yet spry and his smile was somewhat cold yet...friendly. Clive never really could look anyone in the eye after what he did. Regardless, he told this man his story and how he ended up there in the first place. His name was Quinn and he was rather understanding. Clive never dared to ask why he was there, Quinn looked a bit unpleasant with multiple scars on his face and arms. He did have a nicely trimmed mustache, though.

"How...could I not...?" Clive replied, a raspy and sulken tone in his voice.

A short, dark silence stood between them before Clive put his plate on the floor and laid back on his hard, yet still comfy, bed.

Ouinn stepped and laid back as well.

Clive turned to his side, his back to Quinn and thought to himself. He remembered the sounds of the people. He could hear one voice clearly. A sweet, innocent voice, whom pleaded for him to stop. He didn't listen then. If he had...would she have...He cringed mid-thought and gripped his pillow tightly, his eyes swelling with tears...

"Are you sure you'll be alright, Flora? I don't want you to get lost...or hurt..."

"I mind you, Professor, I know London like the back of my hand! I won't get lost. And i can assure you Flora knows how to take care of herself!" She pouted at the smiling, charming professor who stood in her path. He chuckled as did his apprentice at Flora's cute "self-conference". They had all grown in their own way after the accident. Luke, a few(two at most!) inches taller and more wittier. The professor, more matured and ever the more gentleman like. And Flora, her youthful face more charming and her eyes sparkled even more than before as she evolved into a respectable young woman. And of course, she was smarter about her beloved London's streets as well.

"Ok, Flora. we'll be off now." Layton sighed and Flora sensed the sadness in his voice.

She smiled in a loving way and hugged her adoptive father. He was a bit taken aback, but he accepted the hug regardless.

"Hey! What about me?" Luke grinned childishly.

Flora giggled and hugged him too.

"Do be careful on the road, boys."

"Don't worry, Flora. There's a responsible driver at the wheel." Luke said proudly.

"Heh, not today Luke. Not after last time."

He blushed a bit as he remembered that he had wrecked the bumper while backing up into a pole.

"Right..."

Layton looked at his watch, "Oh my. Luke, we should go now. Goodbye, Flora."

Luke waved goodbye as him and the professor walked off to the Layton-mobile.

"Bye, Flora!"

She smiled and waved back beaming with joy as her apple mark softly glowed through her skin.

With that, she looked up at the small apartment complex. It was fairly new with little blemishes and age spots. It was painted a lovely shade of cognac and accented with light blue along the trim and window sills of each floor. She smiled like a little girl and excitedly climbed to the second floor, despite the extra weight of her suitcases, and dug in her handheld for her keys. She finally snagged them, placing them in the keyhole as they gleamed in the early morning light. The door clicked as she unlocked it and stepped in with her two suitcases.

It was a very cozy place indeed. It was already well furnished, from the courtesy of the owner and the apartment was already warm.

She closed the door and locked it, still taking it all in. A new independent life. A fresh start.

It had been almost three years since Clive's attack and everything seemed to be going well. Most of London was getting rebuilt and most of the "lost future" underneath London was soon deconstructed and the prime minister, as guilty as he may be, soon took over the re-purposing of the fake buildings within the underground pit. Even though most of the people say Clive got what he deserved, there was one person who had too big of a heart to just throw someone away like trash, even if they're mistakes led to unnecessary devastation. Then again, he did lie. To her, Luke and the professor. As much as it did hurt to see him betray them like that...she oddly understood his pain and it stung her heart in the process as she watched him crumble into an unsavory, destructive wreck...

 **First story to post here! Hope you guys enjoy the rest!**


	2. Chapter 1

BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!

"Huh!? Wha-Ahh!"

Flora landed with a thud on the floor as she rubbed her back in pain. She quickly stumbled and shut off her annoying alarm.

"I'm up, I'm up!" She picked herself up and rubbed her eyes, her hair was down in long strands of auburn, hazel, and caramel colors. Her signature curl was subdued as it decided to remain pasted to her forehead.

She yawned as she walked to the bathroom conveniently placed by her bedroom. She started the shower and waited a bit for it to get warm. She undressed and hopped in only to yelp in surprise. The shower was ice cold! She quickly washed herself and jumped out, shivering.

As she was wrapping herself in a towel her cell rang. She rushed to get the call, almost completely slipping as her wet feet glided across the floor.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Flora!" Luke's voice beamed through the phone followed by another voice, "Morning, Flora."

She smirked and slightly rolled her eyes playfully, "Professor, you don't need to call me this early in the morning! I just woke up." Her voice glowed through the phone and the professor chuckled.

"Apologies, Flora, but we just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry! I told you i can take of myself now." She said as she dried off her hair

She knew he was worried at her moving away from him. She was the closest thing to a daughter he had.

She heard him sigh softly, "I know...it's just gonna take me awhile to get used to."

She smiled and opened her closet to pick an outfit, "Well...i have to go. School awaits! I'll call later, Professor, I promise!"

"Bye Flora!" "Goodbye, Flora."

"Bye." She hung up and smiled, he was always gonna worry. He figured she was very delicate but in fact she was stronger than he thought. After she got dressed and made herself a decent meal(her cooking skills improved a little but still needed improvement), she grabbed her small totebag and headed out her door.

She turned and nearly jumped out of her skin when someone was standing directly in front of her.

"G-Goodness! You scared me..."

The pale woman looked at her skeptically, "Right..."

She was visibly aged but not old. Her hair bore small grey streaks along her brown hair. Her face never moved from that skeptic look through they're whole conversation.

Flora stood there awkwardly before remembering something, "Oh! You're the owner of these apartments right?"

The woman nodded and held out her hand, "Hilanda Holland."

Flora shook it in return, "Flora Reinhold."

Flora smiled nervously as she turned away to begin heading to the bus stop, "Please excuse me! I-I have to go now." And she was off.

When she arrived at the stop, she noticed someone sitting on the bench. She didn't think much of it and just stood by the stop.

"Flora?" A feminine voice rang out.

She turned to see who it was but then was tackled before she could say anything else.

"It's been so long! You look good!"

Flora regained her breath as the woman let go of her. She focused her vision on the short, blonde-haired, make-up covered figure in front of her.

"Rosetta?"

Of course, Flora could recognize those half-lidded hazel eyes from anywhere.

"Yes! My, have you grown. Catch any bait yet~?" Her voice seemed oddly suggestive.

"Bait...?" Flora tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh, come on. Don't act so innocent! I know there has to be a few men who have their sights on you, Flora."

Flora blushed and fiddled with her fingers, "Oh...umm...no! N-Not really...not that i know of anyway."

Rosetta giggled, "No need to be shy! Oh! The bus is here!"

The familiar cherry red bus toited its way to the stop. Flora and Rosetta entered and took a seat next to each other. The whole way Rosetta talked about "honing her flirting skills" and even talk of the professor came up but was quickly dropped by the stop of the bus.

"Oh! We're here!" Flora sprang up frantically. "I-I'd better go! Bye!" Without another word she burst out of the bus.

"Phew. Thank goodness that's over..." She said, turning to the gigantic school before her eyes.

The university was swarming with new students and professors alike. It was a new school year and freshman were getting registered while the seniors prepared to leave. The air even smelled anew! In her chest her heart beated excitedly, ready to start. She takes a deep breath and walks up to one of the booths just outside the school doors.

By the time Quinn woke up, Clive was already wide awake. He always was and doing his usual daily sketching. Quinn stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

"I swear these beds will be the death of me."

Clive chuckled a bit and continued drawing, "I don't think they care enough for us criminals to be comfortable."

Quinn got up and looked over Clive's shoulder, "Yeah, probably."

He was drawing a cute squirrel just outside their cell window. He seemed to be invested it it, taking his time to get the details just right. Before he could finish though, the squirrel was startled by a sudden noise and scurred away.

"Darn...he got away."

Clive shook his head, "No...i'll remember what he looks like." He tapped his head with the pencil, "I have a...very good memory you could say," smiling as he said this.

Then, a loud buzzing sound could be heard throughout the hallway and the doors to their cell opened up along with the other cells on the floor.

Clive stood, him and Quinn walked along their usual route to get to their "playground session". The noise bothered Clive as all the inmates were finding their cliques, like they were in high school or something. Quinn was talking about his wife and what she sent him this month as a gift. Clive was listening, nodding and smiling at some parts, but still, he was on another planet, still.

When they finally reached the keeper grounds they were meet by two officers who didn't really look up to par for this job. They were tall, yes, but not very muscular at all. They were perspiring from the usual humidity around there and they both had a look of caution on their faces. Like one of the prisoners was going to attack them or something. They searched Clive, then Quinn. Once they were cleared, a large metal door opened and allowed them inside.

Clive ran his fingers through his hair as he felt the humidity personally stick to his face. On the other side of the court a group of guys called Clive over. He smirked and ran over to them.

"Heya, Clive! Ready to play?" A rather short gentleman-well, he wouldn't be called a gentleman since he was in jail and all-shouted out with a makeshift bat in his hand.

This was Clive's favorite part of the day, playing baseball with the boys. It all started about a year ago, an inmate-Joe Gerr-who was madly in love with the sport suggested it. They were all disapproving at first but when they played it for the first time, they all loved it. And so it became tradition. The grounds were just the right size to play a decent game. Even though they didn't have all the equipment, the guards were nice enough-or scared enough-to lend them some supplies to use for the games. Clive, of course, was captain of one of the teams, "The Surge" they called themselves.

They set up the field and Clive meet up with the other team captain, acting a bit cocky, "Ready to toss, Gerr?"

"Tails," Joe called out.

Joe flicked out his only coin and flipped it on the ground. Heads. Clive smiled proudly and made his way to the batting place. The pitcher stared intensely at him as he held the ball firmly in his grasp.

"Come on now! Toss it!" Clive called out impatiently.

With that, the pitcher tossed the ball at a rapid speed.

WHACK!

Clive hit it right on the mark, sending it flying on the other side of the grounds.

That night in the cell, Clive stayed up for a bit, thinking. He grabbed some paper and quietly sat down by the window. The moon's light reflected through the bars, giving him enough light to see what he was doing. He thought about writing a letter, but instead grabbed only a single sheet in which he only wrote a name.

I hope this wasn't too boring. I just wanted to establish Clive's surroundings on the first chapter. Any advice would be super helpful though! Thanks for reading! :D ANNNND i just realized how hard this is gonna be to create a romantic setting while he's in jail. Gahh...what have i done to myself?


	3. Chapter 2

**_Hello. This is an update. I know I've been gone for a long time. But I promise I will be back. I don't know how long I will be gone however. Maybe another year. But I just wanted to let my fans know that I am okay. I am also currently working on a new project called the Reinhold-Dove Mysteries project. I am currently working on their first story "The Lost Grandfather Clock." It's still in rough draft mode and I'm barely on chapter two. But I will probably have most of it done and finalized once I return. Thanks for sticking with me._**

 ** _-Lady Mystere_**

Flora plopped herself on the couch in her living room and threw her bag in no particular direction. It hit the wall, spilling out all of her textbooks onto the floor but she didn't feel like picking them up at that moment. She stretched out before digging out her phone from her pocket and dialing Layton's number.

It rang twice before it answered, "Hello?"

"Good evenin', Professa," she said, yawning.

"Sounds like you had a long day," he pointed out with a bit of worry in his voice.

She sighed loudly. "Yes. It was absolutely exhausting! I had to carry so many textbooks and sign so many papers that my hands hurt. But i do have good professors at least," she finished with a little hope in her voice.

"How about you, Professor?"

"We're in Monte D'or!" Luke chimed in over the phone. "We're visiting some of the professor's friends!"

She smiled, "That sounds like fun! What's it like over there?"

"Simply marvelous, as usual," replied the enthusiastic professor. "I wish you would've come, but I know you're focused on school at the moment."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm fine here! Nothing exciting has happened yet. Wait. Scratch that. I saw Rosetta today. She seemed…spritely." She giggled as she thought of the ridiculous conversation about flirting.

"She's training you to be a man-eater Flora," Luke interjected in a way that made everyone laugh.

"Well, my little gentlemen, I must be going now. Homework awaits thee," Flora declared, pumping a weak fist in the air.

"Bye, my dear," spoke the professor before hanging up.

Flora put the phone aside and exhaled in frustration. Without the boys to keep her company, she was getting a bit lonely. However, she knew she had to focus on her studies.

Flora got up and dragged herself to her bed where she slumped over the covers like a sloth. She grabbed her reflective new laptop from her bedside table and while waiting for it to boot up, she opened her daily planner. As she skimmed the pages, she heard a soft chink by the front door. When she looked in that direction, she saw an envelope tucked under the door.

"Huh? A letter?"

She tilted her head as she walked over and picked it up. An eyebrow raised, realizing that the letter had no name or address written on it.

"Well, that's strange."

She grabbed a letter opener from one of the nearby drawers. With a deliberate slice, she made a neat opening and allowed a dull yellow piece of paper to slide out onto her palm.

Her eyes widened like saucers when she unfolded the sheet. There, on that dull piece of paper, was a drawing of her!

She stared at it for a while, baffled. The drawing depicted her perfectly, from her round eyes to her tame curls. Everything was on point, too much on point and it made her heart pound against her chest.

Suddenly, she unlocked her door, ran down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. She looked around but all she saw was a few cars casually pass by her. Hands close to her chest, she retreated to her apartment, locked the door and slid down onto the floor.

'Calm down, Flora. Breathe, just breathe.'

Even though her hands were trembling, she reached out and retrieved the letter. This time, she noticed something scribbled in the corner of the paper. C. That single letter loomed on the page, alone yet powerful.

The next morning, Flora stumbled out of her bed, her mind tripping everywhere. Her hunger didn't present itself so she decided to skip breakfast. Instead, Flora gathered her things and headed off to the bus stop.

When she arrived, no one was there. Smiling, she sat and sighed in relief. No flirty talk today. She looked at the time and realized she arrived early by 15 minutes. She groaned and contemplated about going back and take a quick nap. However, she had enough trouble staying awake just waiting, let alone walking back to the apartment.

Her mind goes back to last night as she remembered the drawing. She still couldn't believe how much it looked like her. Even more ominous was the lone letter. It had ingrained itself in the back of her mind, along with other unpleasant memories. As much as she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that….no. It couldn't be. Not him. He wouldn't know where she was...would he?

Feeling someone could be watching her, she scoped around frantically, searching for anyone that looked even remotely suspicious.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, save for the occasional walkers that cursed at reckless drivers.

She sighed loudly and shook her head, laughing at herself. 'Get ahold of yourself, Flora."

When the bus arrived, Flora seemed in better spirits. In the back of her mind, though, one name hung by a single thread, dangling mindlessly but aware.

The usual buzzing sounded through the halls and their cell door opened. This time though, Clive seemed out of it. It wasn't his usual "out-of it" look either..

Quinn tapped Clive's shoulder. "You okay, today?"

Clive smirked and waved him off. "I'm fine."

While they were walking, one of the guards pulled Clive aside. The guard's chiseled face leaned in close enough that he could've slashed his cheek with a swipe from his sharp nose.

"Time for my beauty shot," Clive asked in a sarcastic tone.

The guard did not move a muscle. "You got a visitor."

Clive's face soon changed to seriousness as they searched him but as the guard escorted him to the visitor room, Clive gained a spring in his step. His smile returned when he spotted Cogg and Spring. He trotted over to them and hugged them both. He gestured them to sit.

Clive sat down instantly. He cleared his throat, trying to hide his excitement, "How are you?"

"Well. After we got your letter, we left the package with her. I'm pretty sure she got it."

"Did you, get to see her?" he asked, his eyes moving frantically between them and his fidgety hands.

"No." Spring replied, her face drooped.

"Mmmm." Clive exhaled softly, his eyes dipped low as well.

Cogg smiled, "Actually, I did."

Spring and Clive rose their heads.

"You did? When?" Spring turned to him.

"I guess after you started walking away, dear, I stayed for a bit. Then out of nowhere, the poor girl came running out. I don't think she saw me though."

"H-How did she look? Does she look well? How did she act?" Clive's face was a mixture of fear and anxiety.

"Whoa, there son." He held up his hand. "Once question at a time."

"Sorry, how did she look?" his voice trembled a bit.

"The same as before but more, grown up. She definitely looks like a nice young woman now." He ran his finger through his beard, "She did seem a little, on edge though."

"I can see why." Clive sighed. "Well, thank you. This means a lot to me."

"Ah. It's no big deal. Anything you need, we'll be here for you, Clive." Cogg gave a warm smile.

When Clive returned to his cell, Quinn was casually reading a book. Clive jumped a bit as the cell slammed shut behind him.

Quinn lowered his book, "Got a visitor?"

Clive nodded.

"Who was it?"

"Just family."

Five silent seconds later, Quinn flipped a page. "Who is she?"

Clive looked at him, "Who," he asked firmly.

"The girl you drew."

Clive's eyebrows furrowed, forming ridges on his forehead, "Why were you looking through my stuff?"

"No reason. Just curious is all. Don't freak out about it." Quinn closed the book. "So, who is she?"

Clive sat upright against the wall. "Someone I hurt a long time ago."

"I see." Quinn smiled wide, "Do you like her?"

His eyes squinted at his unusual question. "What do you mean, 'like her'?"

"You know, have feelings for her."

Clive turned away to hide his reddened face. "No, I do not 'like her'."

Quinn returned reading his book, "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say."

"I don't," Clive barked, flailing his arms. Then, he stopped and stared at his hands,

"Even if I did, why would she want someone like me? I bet she doesn't even want to see me again."

"Well, you never know," Quinn reassured as he put down his book. "Maybe she'll give you a second chance."

He had a point, but Clive still had his doubts. How could she forgive him? He put her through so much trauma from what she had seen, in addition to all the lies he told. There was one truth, though, that Clive was her friend. When Clive first saw her, something inside him clicked but despite his growing fondness of her, he couldn't tell her about his true plans.

"So, what's her name, Clive?"

His eyes blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

"What's, her name," Quinn grumbled.

He didn't want to answer but any further delay and Quinn may snap his neck. "Flora. Her name's Flora."

Hey guys! Whoo! Finally got to upload chapter two after my editor had a car accident so I didn't want him to worry about it. But he insisted so I let him edit. XD

Anyway, thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews so far even if it's not much! I'm trying to work really hard on this story and I appreciate all the support. LOL Clive's reaction. I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun writing this. It'll be cool to try and figure out how they'll react to each other once they actually see each other again. I'm excited!

Also I want to establish Flora's age. Since this is three years later, and I'm going to assume she was 14 when Clive did all that "destroy London" stuff, that makes her 17 years old. Clive I guess would be at least 15 or 16 during that time so he would be wither 18 or 19. Choose whichever. OvO 18 seems more fitting but eh. Whatever floats ya boat.

Also, the cover is in progress. I'm drawing it myself so yeah. It might be awhile before it up but I promise it will be up by the time I post chapter 4 and maybe even earlier than that. :D

Ok. That's all. Bye! 3


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